There is a funny moment in adulthood when you realize you are becoming your parents. Maybe it is a phrase you use, a mannerism you picked up, or a habit you swore you would never have. We have sayings for this: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” “chip off the old block,” and “like father, like son.”

In John 5, Jesus reveals something profound about Himself and His relationship with God the Father. On a Father’s Day weekend, we are reminded that children often reveal something about their parents. And nowhere is that more true than in the relationship between Jesus and His Heavenly Father.

Don't Miss God Because You're Defending God

The passage begins with conflict.

After healing a man who had been disabled for 38 years, Jesus tells him to pick up his mat and walk. The problem? It happened on the Sabbath.

At first glance, the Jewish leaders can seem overly rigid or legalistic. But their concern came from a genuine desire to honor God. Throughout Israel's history, Sabbath observance was deeply connected to covenant faithfulness. They carried the memory of exile and judgment and wanted desperately to remain faithful.

Their mistake was not caring too much about obedience.

Their mistake was becoming so convinced they understood God that they failed to recognize Him when He stood right in front of them.

One of the greatest spiritual dangers is believing we know God so completely that we stop listening, learning, and allowing Him to challenge us.

The warning of John 5 is not to care less about truth or obedience. The warning is to remain humble enough to recognize that God may be working in ways we did not expect.

We can become so committed to defending our understanding of God that we miss the presence of God Himself.

Jesus Is Impossible to Ignore

The controversy escalates when Jesus responds:

"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."

With one sentence, Jesus moves the conversation far beyond Sabbath regulations.

He is not simply explaining His actions.

He is revealing His identity.

The Jewish leaders immediately understand what Jesus is claiming: equality with God.

That is why John tells us they sought all the more to kill Him. Jesus was not merely presenting a new interpretation of the law. He was claiming a unique relationship with the Father that belonged to God alone.

Then Jesus raises the stakes even higher.

He declares that He gives life.

He raises the dead.

He exercises judgment.

He receives divine honor.

These are things Scripture attributes to God Himself.

The message is unmistakable:

Jesus is not merely a teacher, prophet, or miracle worker. Jesus is the eternal Son of God.

Everything in this passage points to the reality that if we want to know what God is like, we must look at Jesus.

When we see Jesus healing, forgiving, welcoming, serving, loving, and sacrificing, we are seeing the very heart of God.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Like Father, like Son.

The Life We Were Made For

One of the most surprising parts of this passage is that while Jesus makes astonishing claims about His divinity, He also repeatedly speaks about His dependence on the Father.

"The Son can do nothing by Himself."

"By myself I can do nothing."

Far from weakness, this reveals perfect relationship.

Jesus lived from complete dependence upon His Father.

That idea runs against everything our culture celebrates. We admire independence, self-sufficiency, and personal achievement. Yet Jesus shows that true strength is not found in independence but in communion with God.

His power flowed from His relationship with the Father.

His confidence flowed from His relationship with the Father.

His purpose flowed from His relationship with the Father.

And underneath it all was love.

"For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does."

Jesus never operated from insecurity or striving. He lived rooted in the Father's love.

The invitation for us is the same.

We are invited to live secure in God's love, dependent upon His presence, and responsive to His leading.

Many of us are exhausted because we are trying to carry life in our own strength.

Many of us are anxious because we are trying to secure an identity that God already wants to give us.

Many of us are striving for approval when God is inviting us to live from His love rather than for it.

The life we were made for is not independence from God but loving dependence upon Him.

The tragedy of John 5 is that the religious leaders stood face to face with Jesus and missed who He truly was.

The invitation of John 5 is that we do not make the same mistake.

When we see Jesus, we see the Father.

When we hear Jesus, we hear the Father.

When we trust Jesus, we discover the life we were created for.

And at the center of it all is this life-changing truth:

The Father loves the Son.

And through Jesus, we are invited into that same love.

May we be rooted and established in that love, dependent upon our Heavenly Father, and transformed by the One who is truly impossible to ignore.

Message recap adapted from the June 21, 2026, message by Minister Tom Hinders

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